Westlake Village, CA (December 11, 2012) – On the evening of Thursday, November 29, 2012, Guitar Center held the grand opening of its new location in Midlothian, Virginia, located at 13357 Rittenhouse Dr., 23112. The Midlothian store is Guitar Center’s 239th retail location and the sixth in Virginia, as well as the first Virginia store to offer Guitar Center Studios. Local musician and Guitar Center veteran Curtis Marion serves as the store manager.

The store features Guitar Center Studios, an in-house, state-of-the-art lesson facility, which is already creating unrivalled opportunities for area musicians of all ages and skill levels. Guitar Center Studios provides music lessons from beginner to advanced featuring certified instructors teaching world-class curriculum as well as one-on-one courses on Pro Tools, Logic Pro and GarageBand. Guitar Center Studios will be the most modern lessons facility in the area. Guitar Center Midlothian also features GC Garage, Guitar Center’s on-site guitar repair service.

As part of Guitar Center’s initiatives designed to educate and inspire artists nationwide, Guitar Center Midlothian will offer unique opportunities for musicians to craft their skills, maintain their instruments and experience many other aspects of the music industry first-hand. Musicians interested in learning about the industry will be able to come to the store to interact with and pick the brains of several industry leaders.

Midlothian shoppers are also able to enjoy Guitar Center’s new multi-channel “endless aisle,” which includes multiple combinations of product options to conveniently choose from. Not only does the “endless aisle” include Midlothian’s inventory, but it also provides easy access to Guitar Center’s $400 million in new and used inventory located in hundreds of GC stores and warehouses nationwide. Customers have the ability to combine a variety of in-store, online and phone options to purchase music equipment from anywhere they may be, allowing for a personalized and convenient shopping experience.

In addition to special programs at the new Midlothian store, Guitar Center offers nationwide programs designed to spearhead creativity and highlight the nation’s most promising undiscovered talent. Midlothian residents will now be able to participate in these ongoing national events from their hometown:

Guitar Center On-Stage is an annual competition that provides unsigned artists the chance to open for established artists such as Motley Crüe, KISS and Jane’s Addiction. Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter is an artist discovery program that aims to find the nation’s best unsigned singer-songwriter. Last year's winner received a career-altering prize package which has included recording 3 songs with accomplished Grammy® Award-winning Producer John Shanks, recording time at Converse Rubber Tracks studio and $10,000 cash. Guitar Center's Battle of the Blues is a nationwide amateur guitar skills competition with the goal of finding the next great undiscovered blues guitar player. This year’s winner, Daniel “Boscoe” France, performed alongside Grammy Award-winning Producer Pete Anderson at the Grand Finals in LA, and won an incredible prize package valued at over $50,000. Guitar Center’s Drum-Off, entering its 24th year, is the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer. Drummers from across the nation compete in the world’s largest drum competition, vying for thousands of dollars in prizes and the coveted title of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off Champion. The grand prize package is valued at nearly $50,000.